Bar, Montenegro, March 29, 2013. Just some hours before the first whistle in Pool I, Jury President and CEV Vice President Jan Hronek welcomed the six team delegations at the Technical Meeting in Hotel Princess in Bar, Montenegro. The Jury members as well as the organizers informed the teams from Pool I about the most important items for the 2013 CEV Youth Volleyball European Championship – Girls.

Click here for a comprehensive photo gallery of the Technical Meeting in Bar, Montenegro.

“Everything is set up to start an outstanding tournament tomorrow”, said Jan Hronek on Friday night. “I’d like to congratulate the organizers for their excellent work so far. We hope you feel like at home.” Host of Pool I is the Montenegrin city of Bar. Bar is a coastal town in the west of Montenegro. It has a population of 17,727 (2011 census). Bar is the center of Bar Municipality and a major seaport of Montenegro.

Pool I action gets under way on Saturday at 15.00 (local time) with Poland challenging Slovenia, Italy facing Greece (17.30) as well as host Montenegro taking on the Czech Republic. A total of 38 matches will be played during the tournament, running from March 29 to April 7 in co-organization by the Serbian and Montenegrin Volleyball Federation.

The Preliminary Phase of the 2013 CEV Youth Volleyball European Championship – Girls is split into two pools of six teams with the top two from each pool advancing to the semifinals. Pool I comprises host Montenegro, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, the Czech Republic as well as Poland. Pool II sees the local heroines from Serbia defending their reputations versus Russia, Germany, France, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Montenegro Head Coach Marko Radusinovic: “It’s our first time in history to participate in a prestigious event like the Youth Euro Champs. Every win will be a big success for our small country. We are looking forward to show our fans and supporters our best possible game.”

Poland Head Coach Grzegorz Kosatka: “We feel ready to start. One of our goals is to qualify for the World Championship in Thailand this summer.”

The Czech Republic Head Coach Leos Chalupa: “We are happy to be here and to start playing tomorrow. We participated in the regular league in the Czech Republic and had now two weeks of intense preparations in camps.”

Italy Head Coach Luca Pieragnoli: “Every team represented here worked very hard to reach that level. First of all Italy is aiming for a spot in Thailand. If we do well, we possibly will have a chance to fight for the medals. But remember, in youth competition, surprises are more the likely.”

Greece Head Coach Dimitrios Floros: “The eighth rank was so far the best result for a Greek team in such a competition. For sure we’ll try our best to do better.”

Slovenia Head Coach Jose Casar: “I have only one thing to say: Thailand is in our dreams.”

The matches of preliminary Pool I as well as all semi-final and final matches are available live and for free at www.laola1.tv. On the other hand, all matches of Pool II are streamed on the official website of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia and namely under the following URL: http://eng.ossrb.org.